


Feral Pt.2

by Geek_and_Nina



Series: Hope/Josie [2]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Hope turned into a vampire AU, Kind of canon compliant?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 23:02:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21187439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geek_and_Nina/pseuds/Geek_and_Nina
Summary: Hope wants to help Josie cope, more than anything, but isn't sure of how





	Feral Pt.2

Hope woke up with a start when a knock came at her door. She had been dreaming of a better time, sitting in her mother’s lap and listening to her Aunt Rebekah tell stories of the adventures they had when she was a baby. Annoyed to have been awoken, she pulled a cardigan on over her pajamas and went to open her door. Hope softened immediately upon seeing a distraught Josie standing there. She opened the door wider to let the other girl in.

“Josie? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Hope grabbed a blanket from the foot of her bed and draped it across Josie’s shoulders. She was once again struck by the depth of concern she felt whenever Josie was anything but happy, healthy, and safe. Hope led her to sit on the chest at the foot of her bed.

“It’s the dreams, Hope. I know I’ve gotten us into trouble before for sneaking up to your room, but this time… I almost set the school on fire again. When I first woke up, I couldn’t tell if this was a nightmare or real life, it was all so surreal. The shadows in my room started to spin, and I could hear something under my bed.” Josie whispered, still clearly terrified. Hope pulled the blankets back and gestured for Josie to join her.

“One night only offer. I’m setting an alarm for five in the morning to send you to your room to get ready for classes. We’ll figure out a solution for the rest of your nights… your nightmares, tomorrow. Even if it means that I sleep on your bedroom floor every night until your dreams are only ever sweet. Hope tucked Josie into the bed before sliding on the other side. “Wake me if you have another.”

“You really are too good to me, Hope,” Josie said slowly playing with a lock of her hair. She was comforted by the smell of Hope surrounding her and the warmth of the girl at her back. “Risking your life to save mine and doing your best to help me through everything.”

“I was raised to be willing to do absolutely anything for the people I love. My parents, my aunts, and uncles, they committed unnumerable crimes fulfilling that promise. Do you know my family’s motto, the promise they constantly swore to one another over the centuries?” Hope turned in Josie’s arms and asked those beautiful and more than a little disconcerting eyes flickering between Josie’s hooded puppy-dog eyes and those full, pouty lips. “Always and forever. I’m here for you.”

“Again… you are much too good for me.” Hope leaned forward and kissed Josie’s forehead gently.

“Don’t talk like that. You are deserving of every good thing, Josie. Now, I am here and you are perfectly safe. Try to get some rest.” Hope looped her arms around the sleeping girl beside her, pulling her close.

\-----/////-----

Josette Saltzman woke up from a dead sleep, yawning and rolled over, realizing she was using Hope’s arm as a pillow. There were still twenty minutes until Hope’s alarm and Josie knew there was no way she was going back to sleep. She wasn’t at all surprised to find she had actually slept well at Hope’s side. There was something about the tribrid that always made Josie feel safe. Hope wasn’t sure she had ever felt so completely loved.

In the weeks following Josie’s kidnapping; she was caught sneaking to Hope’s room no fewer than six times. Their relationship had quickly become popular knowledge throughout the Salvatore School and it was assumed that Josie was sneaking to make out with her girlfriend. The reality only the twins, MG, and Hope could understand was the necessity of a balm for the night terrors. Josie was more harshly affected than the others. Hope had been through too much for something so simple to be what terrorized her. MG had learned of that particular reality of violence when he began to turn into a Ripper. Lizzie was medicated into each and every one of her slumbers, sleeping deeply and dreamlessly.

“Watching me sleep is kind of creepy, Jo. We have a handful of minutes left before the evil alarm will go off. Come and let me hold you… for a little while at least, please.” Hope looked unusually soft in her pajamas, amongst the pillows and blankets, bathed in the morning light seeping into the room through the blinds. Josie thought it might be the most beautiful she’d ever seen Hope.

“I would love nothing more.” Josie turned over, tucking her face into the crook of Hope’s neck. She could feel the other girl drawing gentle designs on her back with her fingernails. Josie sighed happily and arched at the feeling. “Thank you, for everything. I know I’m being ridiculous, letting these nightmares get to me this way. I’m just so frightened during them… because I’m powerless and I know they’re using me to get to you.”

“We’ve defeated Triad and Malivore, Josie. Anyone else who comes for you or tries to use you to get to me, I will rend limb from limb with my bare hands. That is what a Mikaelson does. Always… and forever.” Hope swore to her once more. Josie could almost feel the fire that burned inside of Hope beating through her chest and into Josie herself. This was the legacy Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall-Kenner had left to Hope, a spirit of such intense passion it was barely contained within her small body.

“I hate to say this but I need to get back to my own room before someone realizes I’m gone. Will you walk me to class in a bit?” Josie asked, a soft smile decorating her face.

“Of course I will. Your dad will expect me for our training session soon. I’ll meet you outside your room as soon as I can afterward.” Hope sat up alongside Josie, pulled her in close, and kissed her forehead. She wanted to hold her tight forever, keep her safe from everything in the outside world, for as long as her body and her quite possibly immortal life would allow.

\-----/////-----

“She would kill me for having told you. I don’t want Josie to ever know I said a word about this to you. Let her think the two of us are getting away with it. I won’t leave my wolf form the whole night, I swear but I can’t do nothing when I know she is suffering and there is something I could do to help.” Hope’s voice was choked as she spoke during the sparring session. Alaric was covered with a thin sheen of sweat while Hope still moved fluidly, easily, as though they hadn’t been fighting at full force for fifteen minutes straight. “I just thought you ought to know.”

“You are going to think this sounds crazy, especially coming from me, but I trust you, Hope. Even with my daughter. Actually… especially with my daughter. I have seen firsthand how much you love one another. The lengths you will go to for Josette.” Alaric set his staff down and spoke honestly. “Your vampiric curse. I noticed the daylight ring on your hand. Did you trigger it during the fight?”

“I did it on purpose, beforehand. Right after I found out that Josie was missing. I knew I would need every advantage at my disposal. I feel the loss of my magic like a missing limb, but Josie is home and safe now. That’s what matters.” Hope swallowed hard, opening and closing her hand into a fist fiercely, again and again. “It hurt like hell. I was scared and alone, but I did what had to be done. Are you disappointed in me, Dr.Saltzman?”

“No. I’m really quite proud.” he replied, staring down at his feet and speaking hoarsely. “My only sadness is that you had to go through this on your own. If you had told me, I would have stopped you, of course. Still, you’re a Mikaelson and that kind of love is what anyone would want for their child… minus the constant murder and mayhem of course. I saw it in action for myself more than a couple of times…”

“Sometimes I forget that you knew them. I would like to hear those stories someday, even if my dad was the villain in them.” Hope stood once more to head inside. “Thank you for being there for me, Alaric. Even when I’ve been trying so hard to push you away.”

\-----/////-----

Hope looped her arm through Josie’s as they walked to lunch together. “So, do you want to come up to my room tonight or to have me come down to yours?” she asked quietly, seeing how haunted Josie’s dark eyes still were despite the night’s rest.

“Come down to mine. You are sneakier than I am. Much more likely to get away with shenanigans. You always have been.” Josie’s lips brushed Hope’s cheek before she went to take a seat beside her sister. Hope sat down across from them, besides MG. He tossed her a blood bag of O negative with a nod.

“When… when did this happen?” Lizzie asked, her eyes wide with alarm as Hope began to eat. She turned to Josie. “Did you know?”

“I had an idea.” Josie shrugged. “Vampires blend in extremely well with the rest of us nowadays, but I could _feel_ something different and I just knew. I’m still not sure when it happened, though. I assumed it was at some point during the attack on Triad or while she was rescuing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”

“Wrong on both counts. When I realized you were gone, I triggered the curse myself. I knew I wouldn’t be able to save you while there was a possible advantage I was still holding back. I needed to be at full strength.” Hope admitted, rubbing her hand along the side of her neck anxiously. She winced despite the lack of any remaining pain.

“Are you telling us that you…” MG couldn’t even say the words out loud as he choked on the mere thoughts.

“Yes. That is exactly what I’m saying, but it’s not the same thing. I knew I would come out of the other side as myself with only a few minor differences. Please don’t start panicking.” Hope started back-tracking as she saw the looks on her friends and girlfriends’ faces. “I only did what had to be done.”

“Still, you had to have been absolutely terrified. The hunger and the rage, the storm of feelings you would have woken with. I’ve seen transitions occur before. You should have come to one of us.” Lizzie said with a hint of anger in her voice.

“We were all in a very delicate, even fragile place. I didn’t want to put your recovery at risk, Lizzie or trigger a Ripper episode for you, MG. Still, I rescued Josie and me, I… I have never felt stronger.” Hope leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared the others down as though challenging them to say a word against her.

“Still, I would have preferred that there had been someone there for you, to help you through the transition.” Josie reached across the table, palm up, and waited for Hope to take it in her own. “No one should have to die alone.”

Hope’s jaw clenched repeatedly, her eyes filled with emotions, and she eventually reached back to Josie’s hand she held tight and sighed heavily. “Yeah, it was kind of awful… and the hunger was all-consuming. I was glad to have brought blood bags up there just in case. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”

“I’m so sorry, Hope.” Josie squeezed her hand, eyes pained. “I… if I could have been here or…”

“Don’t do that to yourself. I did what I felt had to be done to keep you safe. I wouldn’t change a thing.” Hope said insistently as MG laid a hand on her back and Lizzie looped an arm around Josie’s shoulders.

The group sat quietly for the rest of their lunch break, pondering what they had learned throughout their conversation. MG didn’t remove his hand from Hope’s back as though he were reminding himself that she was still there and safe beside him. Josie looked up to meet his eyes and check in every now and again. He smiled softly and nodded each time.

\-----/////-----

Hope slid out of her bed, pulled her cardigan off its hook, and put on her houseshoes before speeding as stealthily as possible to Josie’s room. She knocked and waited for the other girl to let her in as patiently as possible, shifting her weight from foot to foot. When Josie answered the door, she was wearing a wry grin much to Hope’s surprise. She had been bracing for a lecture or a fight from her girlfriend, maybe some kissing and cuddling afterward. Now, for the first time in a long while, Hope had been thrown off her game.

“My dad has left a gift. Apparently, nothing in this school escapes his notice. It seems we have his blessing, so long as you are in your wolf form. Do your Crescent powers work even after your transition?” Josie asked, and gestured to the blush brown dog bed left in the corner bearing a gift-tag with Hope’s name.

She chuckled darkly and shook her head with a sneer. Hope was impressed and annoyed simultaneously with Alaric. She assumed the bed was spelled by her headmaster to know if it was being used or not, but she was no longer capable of checking. Josie grinned at Hope and took her hand, kissing the back of it. At that, Hope found herself laughing aloud.

“Have you tried siphoning it, or do you actually expect me to sleep on it like a lapdog?” Hope asked, arching an eyebrow at Josie and smiling with the most pitiful expression in her repertoire. “You want to banish me to the floor?”

Josie shrugged back. “We can always put the dog bed on the _actual_ bed, but the spell demands you take on your other form.” she looped her arms around Hope’s neck and kissed her gently, her nightgown serving as only the thinnest barrier between them. “That doesn’t mean we can’t have our fun beforehand.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t.” Hope pulled her sweater off and tossed it carelessly back over her shoulder. Her hands moved to Josie’s hips and pulled her closer, kissing her back, then let her go. “You are one of my favorite people on this wretched planet. As I would like to be allowed to remain at your side, I will abide by the wishes of your father.”

Hope kissed Josie one more time, putting all of the feelings she could muster into it, cupping Josie’s cheek and resting their foreheads together for a long moment. Klaus Mikaelson had never been very physically affectionate with anyone but Hope in her experience. She had often seen her father kiss his sister’s cheeks, even hug Elijah or Marchel once or twice… but the singular moment that stood out most in her mind was like this. She remembered him calling Hayley ‘little wolf’, pressing his forehead to hers, and making her swear to stay safe. Hope treasured this memory above all others.

She took a step back after allowing herself that moment and began the familiar process of melting down into her wolf form. Hope desperately wanted to go for a run or a hunt as she did most often when she became a wolf. The urge almost took over, then Josie bent down to her knees and began to scratch that spot right behind her floppy, fluffy ears. Hope sat down and thumped her tail happily against the floor. She remembered why she was there and how much she loved Josie, as a wolf _and_ as a woman. Hunting could wait, Josie was most important.

Hope watched as Josie tossed the dog bed onto Hope’s side of the bed and slid beneath the covers of her own. Hope jumped onto the magical dog bed and curled up, resting her chin against the top of Josie’s head. The young woman curled in even closer, using the Hope-wolf as a pillow.

\-----/////-----

Josie woke up to a face full of fur and immediately sneezed. It was a startling way to wake up. The large wolf in her bed turned around and met Hope’s bright yellow eyes. She grinned and began petting the top of her girlfriend’s head, scratching beneath the jawline of the large toothy maw, then kissed the top of her head. Josie giggled when Hope nudged her shoulder with her nose. She pushed up onto Hope’s back and began to try to wrestle the huge animal. Josie knew that she and her bed would be covered in fur afterward, but she didn’t care.

“Okay, Hope. It’s time to get ready for classes. Change back to your vampire form and, well, get changed.” Josie patted Hope’s haunches, just as the wolf managed to pin her down to the bed, then licked her cheek.

The fur receded back into Hope’s skin, her bones ground and her joints popped and she was Hope Mikaelson once more. Long hair fell down from across her shoulders to hang Josie’s face. Hope’s arms held her up above Josie, braced just above the other girl’s shoulders. Josie’s breath caught in her chest, then began to come much more quickly as her eyes met Hope’s. She reached up and ran a hand through Hope’s hair her hand curling around the back of Hope’s neck, and pulling her down into a kiss. As Hope acquiesced and melted into Josie, Josie realized that the thin nightgown really _was_ all that separated the two of them now. Hope’s clothes had disappeared during the transformation.

Hope’s hand slid down to the end of Josie’s nightgown as Josie attempted to find the best place for her hands. “One of the best parts of being a vampire now is that feeling, any and _every_ feeling has increased by tenfold. I can hear your heartbeat, feel the goose-bumps rise on your skin, and see your eyes dilate. It was overwhelming until I figured out how to control it.” Hope spoke softly as she slid the nightgown up her legs. It crossed her mind that she ought to be at least slightly embarrassed she had transformed nude, but with Josie, she didn’t feel that even once. All she felt was safe, loved and complete adoration towards the girl beneath her.

“If it’s going to be too much for you right now… we don’t have to…” Josie said in a breathless, almost gasping voice as Hope helped her to pull the nightgown up and over Josie’s head, even as she offered to call a halt on Hope’s behalf.

“That… would be the very last thing I want.” Hope tossed the garment across the room and nipped at the pulse point where Josie’s throat met her shoulder. She fell in love even more with the sound of the witch’s soft giggle as Hope’s mouth continued to venture downward.

“Good… oh, sweet gods.” Josie’s nails scraped against the top of Hope’s head as she grasped her as a handhold.

\-----/////-----

“Now,... that’s how you start a morning.” Josie said with a sigh, resting her head against Hope’s shoulder. She played with Hope’s hair and leaned into the feeling of the other woman drawing designs on her stomach with gentle, featherlight fingertips. “I think we’ve missed our first-period classes. Do you think they would miss us in our second?”

“More than one class period and I doubt we will be able to blame it on sleeping in. We don’t want your dad to kick me out of here in both of my forms, do we?” Hope asked though all she wanted was to spend all her time for all time in this bed next to Josie, just drinking in the sight of her.

“No, we don’t,” Josie replied though she didn’t seem at all inclined to move. Her thumb brushed against the shape of Hope’s lips, then across her jawline. She settled herself further onto Hope’s shoulders. “I should have said it back earlier, Hope. Always and Forever.”


End file.
